1. The Word “Black”
2. -----Langston Hughes
3. “I am black. When I look in the mirror, I see myself, but I am not ashamed. God made me. He did not make us no badder than the rest of the folks. The earth is black and all kinds of good things comes out of the earth. Trees and flowers and fruit and sweet potatoes and corn and all that keeps men alive comes right up out of the earth----good old black earth. Coal is black and it warms your house and cooks your food. The night is black, which has a moon, and a million stars, and is beautiful. Sleep is black which gives you rest, so you wake up feeling good. I am black. I feel very good this evening.”
4. What is wrong with black?”
5. 2. I Love Sports
6. ------Prof. Wu
7. I love sports and athletics. Sports and athletics are not just building our bodies but also refueling our spirits. They give us energy to continue our work and studies as well as incentive and momentum to create. They help us maintain a positive attitude towards life and stay competitive whenever facing any challenges. Without sports and athletics, we should definitely be in a tedious world living a tedious life.
8. 3. What I have lived for
9. ------Bertrand Russell
10. Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind, These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
11. I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy--ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what –at last – I have found.
12. With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.
13. Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the
heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
14. This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.
15. 我的人生哲学
16. 三种激情，单纯而极其强烈，支配着我的人生，那就是对于爱情的渴望，对于知识的追求，以及对于人类苦难痛彻肺腑的怜悯。这些激情犹如狂风，把我吹到这儿吹到那儿，直至那绝望的边缘。
17. 我追求爱情，首先，因为它带给我极大的欢乐，这使我乐意牺牲我余下的生命以换得几小时这样的快乐。我追求爱情，又因为他能减轻孤独---那可怕的孤独啊，一个颤抖的灵魂在这孤独中望着世界边缘之外冰冷而无生命的无底深渊。我追求爱情，还因为在爱的广阔世界里，我在一种神秘的缩影中隐约看到了圣者和诗人曾经想象过的天堂。这是我所追求的，尽管这种爱对人的生活来说似乎还太过美好，但它毕竟是我最终找到的东西。
18. 我以同样的激情追求知识，我曾渴望理解人类的心灵。我想了解星辰为何灿烂。我还试图弄懂毕达哥拉斯学说，他认为数字是高居于万流之上的永恒力量。我在这方面略有成就，但不多。
19. 爱情和知识会尽其可能把我向上导往天堂。但是，怜悯又总是把我带回人间。痛苦的呼喊在我心中反响，回荡。孩子们受饥荒煎熬，无辜者被压迫者折磨，孤弱无助的老人在自己儿子的眼中变成可恶的累赘，以及世上触目皆是的孤独，贫困和痛苦---这些都在嘲弄着人类应该过的生活。我渴望能减少罪恶，可我做不到，于是我也感到痛苦。
20. 这就是我的一生。我觉得这一生是值得活的。如果真有可能再给我一次机会，我愿意重活一次。
21. 4. There is a Lonesome Place in the Sky
22. ----Adlai Stevenson
23. Today we meet in sadness to mourn one of the world’s greatest citizens. Sir Winston Churchill is dead. The voice that led nations, raised armies, inspired victories and blew fresh courage into the hearts of men is silenced. We shall hear no longer the remembered eloquence and wit, the old courage and defiance, the robust serenity of indomitable faith. Our world is thus poorer, our political dialogue is diminished and the sources of public inspiration run thinly for all of us. There is a lonesome place against the sky.
24. 天上出现了一片空寂的地方
25. 今天，我们怀着悲痛的心情在这里集会。哀悼一个世界上最伟大的公民。温斯顿•丘吉尔逝世了。那个曾领导世界许多国家、指挥千军万马、激励人们取得一个又一个胜利和把新的勇气注入人们心田的声音沉默了。我们将再也听不到那熟悉的，充满雄辩与机智、
勇气与抗争、坚定信念与不屈精神的演说了。我们的世界因此而变得更加不幸，政治对话受到了削弱，鼓舞大众的滚滚政治洪流变成了涓涓细水。天上出现了一片空寂的地方。
26. 5. Struggle on
27. -----Benjamin L. Hooks
28. My brothers and sisters…I want you to know that the struggle that we will face through the remaining period of the eighties and on through the twenty-first century will not be an easy one. It is fraught with pitfalls and plagued with setbacks, but we as a people have developed a resiliency which has made it possible for us to survive slavery and vicious discrimination. We must never tire or become frustrated by difficulties. We must transform stumbling blocks into stepping stones and march on with the determination that we will make America a better nation…
29. Struggle on: we want more schoolhouses and less jail houses,
30. Struggle on: We want more books and less weapons,
31. Struggle on: We want more learning and less vice,
32. Struggle on: We want more employment and less crime in our communities
33. Struggle on: We want more justice and less vengeance,
34. Struggle on: We want more of our children to graduate from high school able to read and write, not more on unemployment lines,
35. Struggle on: We want more statesmen and less politicians.
36. Struggle on: We want more workers in our ranks and less cynics,
37. Struggle on: We want more hope and less dope,
38. Struggle on: We want more faith and less despair…
39. 坚持斗争
40. 兄弟姐妹们，……我希望你们明白，我们在八十年代剩余的时间里乃至整个二十一世纪所要面临的都将不是一场轻松的斗争，这其中充满了危险和曲折。但是我们的民族从奴隶制和万恶的歧视下幸存至今，有着顽强的生命力。我们要永远不知疲惫，在困难面前不灰心丧气。我们要把绊脚石变成脚踏板，带着把美国变得更美好的决心前进……
41. 坚持斗争，我们要多一些校舍，少一些监狱
42. 坚持斗争，我们要多一些书籍，少一些武器
43. 坚持斗争，我们要多一些知识，少一些罪恶
44. 坚持斗争，我们要多一些工作，社区里少一些犯罪
45. 坚持斗争，我们要多一些正义，少一些报复
46. 坚持斗争，我们要多的孩子中学毕业就能读书写字，而不是更多的人加入失业大军
47. 坚持斗争，我们要多一些国务活动家，少一些政客
48. 坚持斗争，我们要多一些辛勤劳动者，少一些玩世不恭的人
49. 坚持斗争，我们要多一些希望，少一些麻木
50. 坚持斗争，我们要多一些信心，少一些绝望
51. 6.Six Famous Words
52. ------William Lyon Phelps
53. “To be or not to be.” Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world. They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but for every thinking man and woman. To be or not to be ---to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely. A philosopher once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally. He answered it by saying: “I think, therefore I am.”
54. But the best definition of existence I ever saw was one written by another philosopher who said: “To be is to be in relations.” If this is true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive. To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity of our relations. Unfortunately we are so constituted that we get to love our routine. But apart from our regular occupation how much are we alive? If you are interested only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent. So far as other things are concerned---poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports, unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs---you are dead .
55. Contrariwise, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest---even more, a new accomplishment---you increase your power of life. No one who is deeply interested in a large variety of subjects can remain unhappy, the real pessimist is the person who has lost interest.
56. Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend. But we gain new life by contacts, new friends. What is supremely true of living objects is no less true of ideas, which are also alive. Where your thoughts are, there will your life be also. If your thoughts are confined only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to the narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow circumscribed life. But if you are interested in what is going on in China, then you are living in China; if you are interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interesting people; if you listen intently to fine music, you are away from your immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination.
57. To be or not to be---to live intensively and richly, or merely to exist, that depends on ourselves. Let us widen and intensify our relations. While we live, let us live!
58. “是活还是不活。”如果把《圣经》除外，这六个字便是整个世界文学中最有名的六个字了。这六个字是哈姆雷特一次喃喃自语时说的，而这六个字也就成了莎士比亚作品中最有名的几个字了，因为这里哈姆雷特不仅道出了他自己的心声，同时也代表一切有思想的男男女女。是活还是不活----是要生活还是不要生活，是要生活的丰满充实，兴致勃勃，还是只是生活的枯燥委琐，，贫乏无味。一位哲人一次曾想弄清他自己是否是在活着，这个问题我们每个人也大不可不时的问问我们自己。这位哲学家对此的答案是:“我思故我在。”
但是关于生存我所见过的一条最好的定义却是另一位哲学家下的：“生活即是联系。”如果这话不假的话，那么一个有生命者的联系越多，它也就越有生气。所谓要活的丰富充实也即是要扩大和加强我们的各种联系。不幸的是，我们往往会因为天性不够丰厚而容易陷入自己的成规旧套。试问除去我们的日常工作，我们的真正生活又有多少？如果你只是对你的日常工作才有兴趣，那你的生趣也就很有限了。至于在其他方面----比如诗歌、散文、音乐、美术、体育、无私的友谊、政治与国际事务，等等----你只是死人一个。
但反过来说，每当你获得一种新的兴趣----甚至一项新的造诣----你就增长了你的生活本领。一个能对许许多多事物都感兴趣的人是不可能总不愉快的，真正的悲观者只是那些丧失兴趣的人。
培根曾讲过，一个人失去朋友即是死亡。但是凭着交往，凭着新朋，我们就能获得再生。这条对于活人[可谓千真万确的道理在一定程度上也完全适用于人的思想，它们也都是
活的。你的思想所在，你的生命便也在那里。如果你的思想不出你的业务范围，不出你的物质利益，不出你所在城镇的狭隘圈子，那么你的一生便也只是多方受着局限的狭隘的一生。但是你对当前中国那里所发生的种种感到兴趣，那么你便可说也活在中国；如果你对一本佳妙小说中的人物感到兴趣，你便是活在一批极有趣的人物中间；如果你能全神贯注的听音乐，你就会超脱出你的周围环境而活在一个充满激情与想象的神奇世界之中。
是活还是不活----活的热烈活的丰富，还是只是简单存在，这就全在我们自己。但愿我们都能不断扩展和增强我们的各种联系。只要一天我们活着，就要一天是在活着。
7. The Four Freedoms
-----Franklin Delano Roosevelt
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peace time life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.
The forth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a
world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor--anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
To that new order we oppose the greater conception –the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.
Since the beginning of our American history we have been engaged in change—in a perpetual peaceful revolution—a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions—without the concentration camp or the quick–lime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose.
To that high concept there can be no end save victory.
论四大自由
……
我们努力保证未来的岁月能够安定，我们期待着将来有一个建立在四项人类基本自由基础之上的世界
第一是在世界的一切地方，一切人都有言论与表达意见的自由。
第二是在世界的一切地方，一切人都有自由以自己的方式崇拜上帝。
第三是免于匮乏的自由。从世界范围的意义上说就是在经济上达到谅解，保证世界的一切地方，每一个国家的居民都能够过一种健康的和平生活。
第四是免于恐惧的自由。从世界范围的意义上说就是进行世界性的彻底裁军，使世界上的一切地方，没有任何一个国家有能力向任何邻国发起侵略行动。
这不是对遥远未来的黄金时代的幻想。这是我们所追求的世界必须具有的基础，这世界可以在这个时代，由我们这一代人赢得。我们追求的世界，跟独裁者企图用炸弹炸出来的所谓“新秩序”的暴政正好相对立。
我们以道德秩序这伟大的观念来反对那种新秩序。一个正好的社会，能够毫无恐惧的面对企图主宰世界以及在别国发动革命的各种计划。
自有美国历史以来，我们就从事于改革---从事不间断的和平改革。我们持久地进行革命，沉静地使革命不断适应外间变化的情况。我们的革命没有集中营，也没有万人冢。我们要建立的世界秩序是自由国家之间的合作，是在一个友好文明的社会中共同工作。
我们的国家已经将她的命运交托给千百万自己的男女公民，由他们的双手、头脑和心灵来决定；我们的国家已经将她对自由的信念置于上帝的指引之下。自由就是人权在所有地方高于一切。我们支持一切为了得到并保持这些权利而奋斗的人们。我们目标一致，使我们得到力量。
这种崇高的观念舍胜利而外无其他结局。
8.Why are You Laughing?
Thus laughter gradually became established as a capacity among virtually all human beings. In addition, laughter’s infectious quality helped distribute it as a characteristic common to all mankind. Laughter was advantageous; therefore it survived.
Everyone likes a good laughter; he brings good cheer with him wherever he goes, the very thought of him makes life more bearable. Even today our most highly paid entertainers are not tragedians but comedians. Laughter is infectious, and most of us go out of our way to acquire the infection. We cannot think that it was otherwise in the earlier days of man’s evolution, and if that was indeed so, then it would follow that the capacity to laugh would tend to become increasingly distributed as a trait common to all men.
In society, laughter became a characteristic that served to “humanized” men because it is essentially a social phenomenon, largely controlled by the civilization in which it takes place. The times change, and the situations about which laughter is acceptable change correspondingly. A few hundred years ago it was socially acceptable to laugh at the infirmities of others; today it is unacceptable. In the western world it is not customary to smile at the reprimands of others, as it is in Japan. Personalities should smile or laugh in their photographs, but college professors should look serious. Each of these examples underscores laughter’s social function.
这样，笑就逐渐成为全人类的一种能力。此外，笑的感染力有助于把笑作为全人类共有的一种特性进行传播。笑是有益的，所以笑就流传了下来。
大家都喜欢善于笑的人，无论他到何处，都带着令人愉快的欢笑，一想起他就会使生活变得比较可以忍受的了。就是在今天，享有高薪的娱乐者仍是喜剧演员。笑具有感染力，我们中的大多数人都乐于接受这种感染。我们认为，在人类进化的早期，情况不会与此相反。果真如此的话，那么就会得出这样的结论：笑这种能力会倾向于不断的传播，从而成为全人类共有的一种特性。
在社会中，笑成为一种特性，它可使人“具有人性”，因为笑实质上是一种社会现象，在很大程度上是受到它所产生的那个文明的制约。时代在前进，作为能使笑成为可接受的周围的情景也在相应的改变。曾在几百年前，嘲笑别人的缺陷，还是受到社会接受的。而今天则不能接受了。在西方社会，人们不习惯于当别人责骂时，还去微笑，但在日本却可以。电影明星应在照片中微笑或大笑，而大学教授则应表现的严肃些。这些例子都强调了笑的社会作用。
9.Let Your Mind Wonder
Until recently daydreaming was generally considered either a waste of time or a symptom of neurotic tendencies, and habitual daydreaming was regarded as evidence of maladjustment or an escape from life’s realities and responsibilities. It was believed that habitual daydreaming would eventually distance people from society and reduce their effectiveness in coping with real problems. At its best, daydreaming was considered a compensatory substitute for the real things in life.
As with anything carried to excess, daydreaming can be harmful. There are always those who would substitute fantasy lives for the rewards of real activity. But such extremes are relatively rare, and there is a growing body of evidence to support the fact that most people suffer from a lack of daydreaming rather than an excess of it. We are now beginning to learn how valuable it really is and that when individuals are completely prevented from daydreaming, their emotional balance can be disturbed. Not only are they less able to deal with the pressures of day-to-day existence, but also their self-control and self-direction become endangered.
Recent research indicates that daydreaming is part of daily life and that a certain amount each day is essential for maintaining equilibrium. Daydreaming, science has discovered, is an effective relaxation technique. But its beneficial effects go beyond this. Experiments show that daydreaming significantly contributes to intellectual growth, powers of concentration, and the ability to interact and communicate with others.
直到最近白日做梦通常被认为不是浪费时间就是要患精神病的征兆。习惯性白日做梦被看做精神失调的证据或是对现实生活和责任的逃避。人们相信，习惯性白日做梦会使人远离社会，降低其处理现实问题的效率。最好的情况来讲，白日做梦被认为是代替生活现实的补偿品。
任何事情做得过分都可能有害，白日做梦也是一样。总有那么一些人，他们用想入非非的生活来代替实际活动得到的好处。但是这一类极端的情况极为罕见，愈来愈多的资料都能证明这样一种看法：大多数人的白日梦做的太少了，而不是太多了。现在我们才开始了解到它确实是多么有价值。当一个人被禁止做白日梦时，他们的感情平衡就可以被搅乱。不仅使他们更难以对付日常的生活压力，而且他们的自我控制和自我定向变得岌岌可危。最近的研究表明，白日做梦是日常生活的一部分，每天做一定数量的白日梦多保持平衡是必不可少的。科学已经发现白日梦是一种有效的消遣技巧。但它的有利影响不只这一点，实验表明，白日梦特别有助于智力的发展，有助于全神贯注的能力和与人交往、交流的能力。
10.Pens
Small as it is, the pen has changed the course of history, shaped the destiny of nations, facilitated the commerce of peoples, imprisoned the elusive thoughts of man, recorded events, carried news, and done more work for mankind than all other tools or weapons.
Progress without it would have been almost impossible. The invention of the wheel and screw, the introduction of steam-power, the use of electricity, all these have changed the lives of millions; but the pen has done more. It has removed
mountains. It has prepared the way for all advancement. Whatever plans have been drawn up, whatever laws formulated, have come from the pen.
笔
笔虽很小，却已经改变了历史的进程，决定了民族的兴衰，推进了民间的贸易, 钳制了难以捉摸的不良思想，记录事件，传播消息，为人类做了比任何其他工具或武器更多的工作。
没有它，进步几乎是不可能的。车轮和螺丝的发明，蒸汽机的问世，电力的使用，所有这些都曾改变了亿万人的生活；然而，笔却做得更多。他创造了奇迹。他为所有的前进铺平了道路。任何计划的拟订，任何法律的制定，无一不出自于笔。
11. The Abdication Speech of Edward VIII
December 11，1936
At long last I am able to say a few words of my own. I have never wanted to withhold anything, but until now it has not been constitutionally possible for me to speak.
A few hours ago I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor, and now that I have been succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him. This I do with all my heart.
You all know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne. But
I want you to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or the empire, which, as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty-five years tried to serve.
But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.
And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone. This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course.
I have made this, the most serious decision of my life, only upon the single thought of what would, in the end, be best for all.
This decision has been made less difficult to me by the sure knowledge that my brother with his long training in the public affairs of this country and with his fine qualities, will be able to take my place forthwith without interruption or injury to the life and progress of the empire. And he has one matchless blessing, enjoyed by so many of you, and not bestowed on me—a happy home with his wife and children.
During these hard days I have been comforted by her majesty my mother and by my family. The ministers of the crown, and in particular, Mr. Baldwin, the Prime
Minister, have always treated me with full consideration. There has never been any constitutional difference between me and them, and between me and Parliament. Bred in the constitutional tradition by my father, I should never have allowed any such issue to arise.
Ever since I was Prince of Wales, and later on when I occupied the throne, I have been treated with the greatest kindness by all classes of the people wherever I have lived or journeyed throughout the empire. For that I am very grateful.
I now quit altogether public affairs and I lay down my burden. It may be some time before I return to my native land, but I shall always follow the fortunes of the British race and empire with profound interest and if at any time in the future I can be found of service to his majesty in a private station, I shall not fail.
And now, we all have a new King. I wish him and you, his people, happiness and prosperity with all my heart. God bless you all! God save the King!
终于，我能够在此一吐衷肠。我从未曾想刻意保留什么，但是在此之前宪法规定我不可能说出自己的心声。
几个小时之前，我履行了作为国王和皇帝的最后义务。现在，我的弟弟约克公爵已经接替了我的位置，所以我要先向他宣誓效忠，真心实意的宣誓我的忠心。
大家都知道促使我放弃王位的原因，但我希望你们能够了解，在我做出这个决定的同时，我并没有忘记我的王国和帝国。25年来，无论是作为威尔士王子，还是不久前任国王
期间，我一直都尽力为国家效力。
但是，你们必须相信，如果没有我所挚爱的女人的帮助和支持，我是没有办法担承担这些沉重的责任并履行我作为国王所应尽的义务的。
我还希望你们能够了解，这个决定是我自己做出的，并且完全是我个人的决定。这是一件必须完全由我自己做出取舍的事情。与此事关系密切的另一位当事者直到最后还在力劝我做出另外一种决定。
我做出了这个我一生当中最重大的决定完全基于这样一个想法，即这个决定最终对所有人来说都是最好的。
这个决定对于我来说之所以不是那么困难，乃是因为我确信我的弟弟凭着他在处理公共事务方面的长期锻炼以及其卓越的才能，将有能力立刻接替我的位置，而丝毫无损英帝国的活力与发展。另外，他还同你们中的许多人一样，有着
一样我所缺乏的、无可比拟的幸事——有妻子儿女，有一个幸福的家庭。
在那些难捱的日子里，我的母后陛下和我的家人给了我很多的慰藉。王国的大臣们，尤其是首相鲍德温先生，一直都对我非常体谅。我和他们之间、我和议会之间从来没有针对宪法产生过分歧。我是在父亲尊重宪法传统的熏陶下长大的，所以我绝不会允许有这样的情况发生。
从我成为威尔士王子以来，以及后来担任国王期间，在我生活或游历过的每一个地方，各个阶层的民众都对我极为友好。对此，我表示衷心感谢。
现在我一并退出所有公共事务，卸下我肩上的担子。也许我将与祖国告别一段时间，但我将永远深深关注不列颠民族与帝国的发展命运。将来只要我能以个人身份为陛下效力，我将决不辜负陛下的厚爱。
现在，我们大家有了一个新的国王。我衷心祝愿他和他的子民们幸福美满、
繁荣昌盛!愿上帝保佑大家!愿上帝保佑吾皇!
12. Build Me a Son
Douglas MacArthur
Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak; and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.
Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee -- and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.
Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.
Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men, one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom and the meekness of true strength.
Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, \"I have not lived in vain!\"
请给我造就这样一个儿子
啊，上帝，请给我造就这样一个儿子，他将坚强得足以认识自己的弱点，勇敢得足以面对恐惧，在遇到正常的挫折时能够昂首而不卑躬屈膝，在胜利时能够谦逊而不趾高气扬。
请给我造就这样一个儿子，他将不以思想替代行动，一个懂得上帝的儿子，一个懂得知识的基石便是认识自我的儿子。
我祈求，请不要把他引上平静安逸的道路，而要把他置于困难和挑战的考验和激励之下，让他学会在暴风雨中挺立，学会对那些失败者富于怜悯
请给我造就这样一个儿子，他将心地洁净，目标高尚；他将在征服别人之前先征服自己；他将拥有未来，但永远不会忘记过去。
我祈求，请赐他以足够的幽默感，这样他可以永远庄重，但不至于盛气凌人；赋他以谦卑的品质，这样他可以永远铭记：真正的伟人也要率直真诚，真正的贤人也要虚怀若谷，真正的强者也要温文尔雅。
那么，作为他父亲的我就将敢于对人私语：“我这一生没有白白度过。”
13. Paradox of Our times
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees，but less common sense; more knowledge，but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
We spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get to angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too often, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too little and lie too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to life. not life to years.
We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space. We’ve split the atom，but not our prejudice; We write more, but learn less; plan more, but accomplish less.
We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies, but have less communication. We are long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men and short character; steep profits and shallow relationships. More leisure and less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition; two incomes, but more divorce; fancier houses, but broken homes.
我们这个时代的尴尬
我们居住的房屋越来越宽敞，家庭却越来越小型化；可以享受的生活便利日益增多，属于自己的时间却日趋减少；我们获得了一张又一张学位证书，却愈加频繁地陷入对常识的茫然中；我们广泛地涉猎各类知识，却越来越缺乏对于外界事物的准确把握和判断；专家越来越多，问题却也日渐增加；药物越吃越多，健康却每况愈下。
我们花钱太疯，笑容太少，开车太快，发怒太急，熬夜太晚，起身太累，文章读得太少，电视看得太多，祷告做得太少。我们不断聚敛物质财富，却逐渐丢失了自我价值。我们的话语太多，真爱太少，谎言泛滥。我们掌握了谋生手段，却不懂得生活真谛；我们让年华付诸流水，却不曾将生命倾注其中。
我们的住房越来越好，脾气却越来越糟；我们行驶的道路越来越宽阔，眼光却越来越狭隘。我们付出很多，可获得的很少；我们购买了很多，可从中得到的乐趣却很少。
我们能够往返于地球与月球之间,却不乐于穿过马路向新邻居问好。我们可以征服外部空间，却慑于走进内心世界。我们可以击碎原子，却不能突破思想偏见；我们写得很多，可学到的很少；计划很多，可完成的很少。
我们学会了追赶时间，却没学会耐心等待；我们拥有的财富越来越多，道德品质却日
益沦丧。我们生产更多的电脑用于存储更多的信息和制造更多的拷贝，而相互间的交流与沟通却越来越少。我们拥有的是数量，缺乏的是质量。
这是一个快餐食品和消化迟缓相伴的时代；一个体格高大和性格病态并存的时代；一个追名逐利和人情冷漠相生的时代。我们的休闲多了。乐趣却少了；食品种类多了，营养却少了；双薪家庭增加了，离婚率也激升了；居室的装修华丽了，家庭却残缺破碎了。
14. The Handsome and Deformed Leg
Benjamin Franklin
There are two sorts of people in the world, who with equal degrees of health, and wealth, and the other comforts of life, become, the one happy, and the other miserable. This arises very much from the different views in which they consider things, persons, and events; and the effect of those different views upon their own minds.
In whatever situation men can be placed, they may find Conveniences and Inconveniencies; in whatever company, they may find persons and conversation more or less pleasing; at whatever table, they may meet with meats or drinks of better and worse taste, dishes better or worse dressed; in whatever climate they will find good and bad weather; under whatever government, they may find good and bad laws, and good and bad administration of those laws; in every poem or work of genius they may see faults and beauties; in almost every face and every person, they may discover fine features and effects, good and bad qualities.
Under these circumstances, the two kinds of people above mentioned fix their attention, those who are to be happy, on the conveniences of things, the pleasant parts of conversation, the well-dressed dishes, the goodness of the wines, the fine weather, and enjoy all with cheerfulness. Those who are to be unhappy，think & speak only of the contraries. Hence they are continually discontented themselves, and by their remarks sour the pleasures of society, offend personally many people, and make themselves everywhere disagreeable. If this turn of mind were founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. But as the disposition to critics, or be disgusted, is perhaps taken up originally by imitation, and is unawares grown into a habit, which those at present strong may nevertheless be cured when those who have it are convinced of its bad effects on their felicity;
I hope this little Admonition may be of Service to them, and put them on changing a Habit, which those in the exercise it is chiefly an Act of Imagination yet has serious Consequences in life, as it brings on real grieves and misfortunes. For as many are offended by, & nobody loves this sort of people, no one shows them more than the most common civility and respect, and scarcely that; and this frequently puts them out of humor, and draws them into disputes and contentions. If they aim at obtaining some advantage in rank or fortune, nobody wishes them success, or will stir a step, or speak a word, to favor their pretensions. If they incur public censure or disgrace, no one will defend or excuse, and many join to aggravate their misconduct, and render them completely odious. If these people will not change this bad habit, and condescend to be pleased with what is pleasing, without fretting themselves and others about the contraries, it is good for others
to avoid an acquaintance with them; which is always disagreeable, and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one finds one’s self entangled in their quarrels.
An old philosophical friend of mine grown from experience, was very cautious in this particular, and carefully avoided any intimacy with such people. He had, like other philosophers, a thermometer to show him the heat of the weather, and a barometer to mark when it was likely to prove good or bad; but, there being no instrument invented to discover, at first sight, this unpleasing disposition in a person, he for that purpose made use of his legs; one of which was remarkably handsome, the other, by some accident, crooked and deformed. If a stranger, at the first interview, regarded his ugly leg more than his handsome one, he doubted him. If he spoke of it, & took no notice of the handsome leg, that was sufficient to determine my Philosopher to have no further Acquaintance with him. Every body has not this two-legged Instrument, but every one with a little Attention, may observe signs of that carping, faultfinding disposition, & take the same Resolution of avoiding the Acquaintance of those infected with it. I therefore advise those critical, querulous discontented, unhappy people, that if they wish to be respected and beloved by others, and happy in themselves, they should leave off looking at the ugly leg.
好看的腿和难看的腿
本杰明•富兰克林
世界上有两种人，他们的健康、财富以及生活上的舒适状况大致相同，结果一种人快乐，另一种人却痛苦。这些都起因于他们对物、对人和时事的观点的不同，因此那些观点对于他们心灵上的作用也不同。
人无论处于什么境遇，总会有便利有不便利；无论与什么人相处，所接触到的人物和谈吐，总有让他愉快的和不那么让他愉快的；无论在什么餐桌上，他总会品尝到可口的和不那么可口的酒肉，菜肴也会烹煮得有好有坏；无论在什么气候条件下，他总会遇到好的和坏的天气；无论他生活在什么政府的统治下，他总会发现它的法律有好有坏，而法律的实施也有好有坏。在天才所写的诗文里，他会发现瑕疵与优美并存。几乎在每一张脸上和每个人身上，他总可发现优点和缺点，好的和坏的品质。
在这些境况之中，上面提到的两种人把他们的注意力集中在不同的地方。快乐的人所注意的是事物的便利方面、谈话的有趣部分、精烹的菜肴、美味的佳酿、晴朗的天气等等，愉快地享受一切；沮丧的人所想的和所谈的却恰恰相反。因此他们永远感到不满意，他们的言论在社交场合总是令人扫兴，当面得罪许多人，以致他们到处不讨人喜欢。如果这种古怪的性情是天生的，这些不快乐的人就更可怜了。但那种吹毛求疵、令人厌恶的性格，也许最开始由模仿得来，在不知不觉中成了习惯，那么，如果他们认识到这种坏习惯对他们一生的幸福会有多么不良的影响，即使这习惯已经到了根深蒂固的程度，也还是可以改正的。
我希望这一小小的忠告会对他们有些用处，促使他们改变习惯；这种坏习惯主要产生于偏见，但是它却会在生活中造成严重的后果，带来实实在在的悲哀与不幸。他们得罪了大家，谁也不喜欢这种人，至多以最常见的礼貌和尊敬来对待他们，有时甚至连这种礼貌和尊敬都谈不上。这往往使他们很不高兴，从而卷入种种争执和冲突。他们如果想要地位上升或财富增加，没有人会希望他们成功，没有人肯为他们实现愿望而出力或说话。如果
他们遭受公众的指责或羞辱，也没有人会为他们辩护或予以原谅；许多人还要加入进来，夸大他们的错误，把他们骂得体无完肤。如果这些人不愿改掉这种坏习惯，不肯屈尊喜欢一切原本可爱的东西，停止以乖戾折磨自己和他人，那么大家还是避免和他们交往为好。因为这种人总是令人不快，一旦你发觉自己被牵扯进他们的争吵中，你会觉得非常麻烦。
我有一位颇有哲学头脑的老朋友，由于阅历丰富，格外谨慎，总是小心地避免和这种人有密切的关系。他像其他哲学家一样，有一只测量气温的气温计，和一只预示天气好坏的气压计。既然世界上还没有人发明这样一种仪器，可以让他在第一次见面时就能发现谁有这种令人讨厌的性情，为此他就得利用他的两条腿：一条长得非常好看，另一条却由于某意外事件而变得弯曲和畸形。陌生人初次和他见面，如果对他难看的腿比对他好看的腿更为注意，他就可有所疑虑。如果此人只谈及那条难看的腿，而不注意那条好看的腿，这就足以使我的哲学家朋友决定不再和他进一步交往下去。并不是每人都有这样一双腿可作为测量人心的仪器，但是只要稍为留心，每个人都能看出一些迹象，表明谁有这种吹毛求疵的脾气，从而可以决定避免与染上这种毛病的人交往。因此，我劝告那些苛刻挑剔、牢骚满腹、事事不满、郁郁寡欢的人们，如果他们希望自己受人敬爱而享有幸福，他就应该不再去看人家难看的腿。
15.Shakespeare’s Anniversary
We know that he was baptized on April 26，1564，so that somewhere between April 20 and April 23，four hundred years ago，was born an Englishman who possessed what was probably the greatest brain ever encased in a human skull.
William Shakespeare’s work has been performed without interruption for some three hundred and fifty years everywhere in the world．Scholars and
students in every land know his name and study his work as naturally as they study their holy books--the Gospels，the Torah，the Koran，and the others.
For centuries clergymen have spoken Shakespeare’s words from their pulpits；lawyers have used his sentences in addressing juries；doctors, botanists，agronomists，bankers，seamen，musicians，and，of course，actors，painters，poets，editors，and novelists have used words of Shakespeare for knowledge, for pleasure, for experience, for ideas and for inspiration.
It is hard to exaggerate the debt that mankind owes, Shakespeare’s greatness lies in the fact that there is nothing within the range of human thought that he did not touch. Somewhere in his writings，you will find a full-length portrait of yourself，of your father，of your mother, and indeed of every one of your descendants yet unborn.
The most singular fact connected with William Shakespeare is that there is no direct mention in his works of any of his contemporaries. It was as though he
knew he was writing for the audiences of 1964 as well as for the audiences of each of those three hundred and fifty years since his plays were produced．
On his way to the Globe Theater he could see the high masts of the Golden Hind in which Sir Francis Drake had circumnavigated the globe．He lived in the time of the destruction of the Spanish Armada，the era in which Elizabeth I opened the door to Britain’s age of Gloriana; and he must have heard of Christendom’s
great victory at Lepanto against the Turks which forever insured that Europe would be Christian．Shakespeare’s era was as momentous as our own. Galileo was born in 1564，the same year in which Shakespeare was born，and only a few years before John Calvin laid the foundation for a great new fellowship in Christianity．And yet Shakespeare in the midst of these great events，only seventy years after the discovery of America，did not mention an explorer or a general or a monarch or a philosopher．
The magic of Shakespeare is that，like Socrates，he was looking for the ethical questions，not for answers．That is why there are as many biographies of a purely invented man Hamlet，as there are of Napoleon，Abraham Lincoln，or Franklin D．Roosevelt.
We are not sure of many things in this life except that the past has its uses and we know from the history of human experience that certain values will endure as long as there is breath of life on his planet, Among them are the ethics of the Hebrews who wrote the Decalogue，the Psalms，and the Gospels of the Holy Bible，and the marble of the Greeks，the laws of Romans，and the works of William Shakespeare. There are other values which may last through all the ages of man-Britain’s Magna Carta，France’s Rights of Man，and America’s Constitution．We hope so，but we are not yet sure. We are sure of Shakespeare．
Ben Johnson was a harsh critic of Shakespeare during his lifetime. They were contemporaries and competitors. Johnson，a great dramatist，did not like it when his play Cataline had a short run and was replaced by Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar，
which had a long run．Yet when Shakespeare died，Johnson was moved to an eulogy which he called “Will Shakespeare\"：
Triumph my Britain
Thou has one to show
To whom all scenes of Europe Homage owe．
He was not of an age, but for all time．
16. Humor
If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses’ convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful
accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. \"Who is that? \" the new arrival asked St. Peter. \"Oh, that’s God, \" came the reply, \"but sometimes he thinks he’s a doctor. \"
If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it’ll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman’s notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn’t attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.
If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it’s the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.
Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote \"If at first you don’t succeed, give up\" or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.
如果你想在谈话中用幽默语言使人发笑，你必须了解如何发现共同的经历和共同的问题。你的幽默必须与听众有关，应该向他们表明你是他们的一员，你了解他们的情况，同情他们的观点。根据你谈话的对象的不同，问题也有所不同。如果你在对一群经理谈话，你就可以提及他们秘书的工作方法紊乱；相反，如果你在对一群秘书谈话，你就可以评论她们老板的工作方法紊乱。
下面举一个例子，它是我在一个护士会上听到的。这个故事效果很好，因为听众对医生都有同样的看法。一个人到了天堂，圣•彼得正带他参观。他看到了豪华的住宅、美丽的花园、明媚的天气等等。所有人都很安静、礼貌和友善，然而在排队等候午餐时，这位新来的人突然被一位穿白大褂的人推到一旁，只见这人挤到了队伍的前头，抓过他的食物，咚咚地走到一张餐桌旁。“这是谁啊？”新来的人问圣•彼得。“哦，那是上帝，”他回答说，“但有时他也认为自己是一名医生。”
如果你是你谈话对象的一部分，你就能够了解你们所共有的经历和问题，你就可以随心所欲地评论餐厅那不可入口的食物，或是评论总裁选领带的极差品味，这都无可厚非。但同他人交谈时，你就不能试图插入这种幽默，因为他们不喜欢外人对他们的餐厅和总裁有如此微词。如果你选择去评论邮局或电话局这样的替罪羊，那你就会很安全。
如果你在幽默时感到很别扭，你应该进行练习才能变得更自然。练习插入一些很随便的看上去是即兴的话，并且能够用轻松的、不做作的方式把它们说出来。常常使听众发笑的是你说话的方式，因此说慢一些。扬扬眉毛或者露出一种难以置信的神情都会有助于使你的评论显得愉快轻松。
要善于发现幽默，它常常是在出奇不意的时候出现。不妨对人们熟知的格言做点改动，如“你要是一开始未成功，就放弃算了”，或者拿语言和情景作笑料。多说写夸张和打折扣
的话。琢磨一下你的谈话，从中选出一些词汇和句子，颠倒它们的顺序，添加一些幽默作料。
17. How To Grow Old
Bertrand Russell
An individual human existence should be like a river --- small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will be not unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do, and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.
老之将至
一个人的一生好比一条河，开始是涓涓细流，限制在狭窄的两岸之间，然后激烈地冲过巨石，冲下瀑布。渐渐地，河宽了，两岸退去，河水舒缓，最后与大海毫无痕迹地融为一体，毫无痛苦地失去了个体的存在。一个人在其暮年时能这样看待自己的一生就不会因怕死而苦恼，因为他所关心的事情将继续下去。而且如果随着精力衰退，疲倦之感日渐增加，长眠的念头便未尝不是一件好事。我宁愿在工作中死去，知道别人在继续我不能再做
的事情，想到自己尽了力，也就无限的安慰了。
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